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Puerto Rico

Who is mandated to report?

Are all health clinicians mandated to report?

  • Yes.  

Who else is a mandated reporter?

  • The following individuals and entities are required to report:
    • Professionals or public officials
    • Public, private, and privatized entities
    • Professionals in the fields of health, justice, education, social work, or public order
    • Persons who administer or work in caregiving institutions or centers, rehabilitation institutions, centers for minors, or foster homes
    • Processors of film or photographs

For more information, refer to Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

When is the reporting duty triggered?

What is the standard?

  • A report is required when:
    • A person, in his or her professional capacity and in the performance of his or her functions, learns or comes to suspect that a minor is, has been, or is at risk of becoming a victim of abuse.
    • A film processor has knowledge of or observes any motion picture, photograph, videotape, negative, or slide that depicts a minor involved in a sexual activity.

For more information, refer to Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

What must be reported?

How does state law define child abuse and neglect for reporting purposes?

  • Mandated reporters must report abuse as defined by Puerto Rico statute Title 8, section 444 and legal guidance interpreting the statute.
    • Abuse. Shall mean any intentional act or omission by the father, mother, or other person in charge of the minor of such a nature that it causes or puts a minor at risk of suffering damage or harm to his or her health or physical, mental, and/or emotional integrity, including sexual abuse as defined in this section. Abuse shall also mean to engage in obscene behavior and/or use the minor to carry out obscene acts; to allow another person to cause or to put the minor at risk of suffering damage or harm to his or her health or physical, mental, and/or emotional integrity; to abandon a minor willfully; to allow the father, mother, or other person in charge of the wellbeing of the minor to exploit him or her; or to allow another person to do so by forcing or allowing the minor to perform any act, including but not limited to using the minor to engage in obscene acts for profit or in order to receive any other benefit, or to incur in any conduct that, if criminally prosecuted, would constitute a crime against the health, or physical, mental, or emotional integrity of the minor, including sexual abuse of the minor. Minors will also be considered to be victims of abuse if the father, mother, or person responsible for the minor has incurred in the conduct described above, or has engaged in acts that constitute domestic violence in the presence of minors, as defined in §§ 601 et seq. of this title.
      • Sexual abuse. Shall mean engaging in sexual conduct in the presence of a child and/or utilizing the child, voluntarily or otherwise, to engage in sexual conduct aimed at satisfying lewdness, or any other act that, if criminally prosecuted, would constitute any of the following crimes: sexual assault; lewd acts; indecent exposure or indecent proposals; producing child pornography; possessing and distributing child pornography; using a minor for child pornography; remitting, transporting, selling, distributing, publishing, exhibiting, or possessing obscene materials, and obscene shows as typified in the Penal Code of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
      • Physical harm. Shall mean any nonaccidental trauma, injury, or condition, including inadequate nourishment, which, if left unattended, could result in death, disfigurement, illness, or temporary or permanent disability of any part or function of the body, including inadequate nourishment. The trauma, injury, or condition may also be the result of a single episode or several episodes.
      • Mental or emotional harm. Shall mean the impairment of the intellectual or emotional capacity of a minor, given what is considered normal for his or her age or cultural environment. Moreover and subject to proof to the contrary, emotional harm shall be presumed to exist when there is evidence that the minor recurrently manifests or exhibits behaviors such as fear, aggressive behavior towards himself or herself or towards others, feelings of abandonment or hopelessness, frustration and failure, anxiety, insecurity, withdrawal, regressive behavior or behavior appropriate for a child of a lesser age, or any other similar behavior.
      • Neglect. Shall mean a type of abuse that consists of failing to perform the duties, or to exercise the capacity to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, education, or health care to a minor; failing to exercise supervision; failing to visit the minor or to remain in contact or frequent communication with the minor. A minor shall also be deemed a victim of neglect if the father, mother, or other person in charge of the minor has incurred in the conduct described in subsections (3) and (4) of § 634a of Title 31, part of the Civil Code of Puerto Rico.

Are child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, statutory rape, incest, intimate partner violence, sexual exploitation and/or trafficking of a minor reportable as child abuse or neglect and if so, how are they defined and what is reportable?

For the most current definitions of these terms, refer to the Laws of Puerto Rico Annotated at the Lexis website.

How to report:

What is the method of reporting?

  • Mandated reporters must complete a form furnished by the department within 48 hours after the oral report. The written report shall be sent to the central register.

For more information, refer to Making and Screening Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.  

What is the timeline in which to report?

  • Any person who has knowledge of or suspects that a child may be a victim of abuse or neglect, or is at risk of becoming a victim, must report to the hotline of the Department of the Family, the police, or the local office of the department.
  • Every processor of film or photographs who has knowledge of or observes any motion picture, photograph, videotape, negatives, or slides that depict a minor involved in a sexual activity must make a report.
  • Mandated reporters must complete a form furnished by the department within 48 hours after the oral report. The written report shall be sent to the central register.

For more information, refer to Making and Screening Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.  

To whom are reports made?

  • The department shall operate a special toll-free communications system attached to the Commonwealth Center for the Protection of Minors to be known as the 'Hotline For Situations of Abuse, Institutional Abuse, Neglect, and Institutional Neglect,' whereby any person shall be able to report situations of abuse, institutional abuse, neglect, and institutional neglect against minors, at any time of the day or night, any day of the week.

For more information, refer to Making and Screening Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.  

State/County Hotline?

  • Administracion de Familias y Ninos:
  • Toll Free: 800-981-8333  

Confidentiality:

What federal confidentiality laws apply to health information collected during a Title X visit?

  • Title X regulations 42 CFR 59.11
  • HIPAA 45 CFR 164.502  

Is there an exception in federal confidentiality law that allows a clinician to comply with mandatory child abuse reporting laws?

  • Yes.